Page 41 of Wild Fury (Fallen Royals 6)

“What did you do?”

I narrow my eyes, as if he can see my expression. “Does it matter?”

He chuckles. “No, I suppose not. Humor me.”

I refuse to believe that he has anything concrete on me or Theo. And if we went back to my parents’ house to do something scandalous, like have sex, then I definitely wouldn’t want to admit it out loud. To him, or in front of my parents. I might be a rebel but I definitely don’t have a death wish.

“Does this have to do with the body?” I ask instead.

“It does.”

“You think I could be capable of… To be honest, Mr. DeSantis, I don’t even know what happened.”

I scoff, willing myself to be believable. To lie convincingly, because my life might depend on it. Mom could’ve given me a heads-up, but now I’m stuck outside our residence hall with a Mafia boss on the other end of the line.

“I’m eighteen. I was at your party, in full view of everyone. I even talked to your son for a moment. And then I left.”

“All right, Ms. Page.”

He doesn’t offer up any explanation, no details I can latch onto. Even though I’m suddenly desperate to know everything.

The phone beeps as he ends the call, and I pull it away from my ear to stare at it in disbelief. I wonder if my mother will tell me—or Amelie. She was probably informed of the situation. I can’t imagine them hiding this from her.

“What are you doing out here?” Felicity asks, coming up beside me. “You okay?”

I flinch. “Yep. Perfectly normal. Just was talking to my mom.”

She frowns. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to holler. The first few weeks away from home can be rough. Homesickness is no joke.”

“Thank you.” I don’t have the heart to tell her I’m not homesick—far from it. And, I can’t help but picture her in that dress in the woods, with the mystery man. I walk toward my room. “I think Ruby is waiting for me.”

“She’s a nice girl,” Felicity says to my back. “But trust should be earned, not freely given. Don’t you think?”

I push my door open and step in, not bothering to answer her.

I don’t trust many people, and I’m not sure I could even consider Ruby one of the people I trust. Probably not. Everything she told me tonight could be orchestrated to draw me further in. Give me just enough information to get me curious, and that’s when they’ll sink their claws into me.

She’s halfway into her closet, rummaging around. In the time I’ve been gone, she changed into a black corset top and black leather pants. She’s piled her dark hair on top of her head, letting a few loose curls frame her face. Dark-red lipstick, heavy eye makeup. I wasn’t gone for more than ten minutes, and she’s completely transformed.

“Ah, there you are. I was thinking maybe that denim jacket you wear a lot, this bralette, and high-waisted black leggings.” She points to my bed.

“Wow.” I wouldn’t have paired those. The bralette was a gift from Amelie. It’s dark-blue and lacy, and a lot more revealing than anything I would normally go for. I’ve worn it under tank tops, letting the lace peek through, but…

“You can rock it.” She grins and ushers me toward the bathroom. “We’ll do your makeup next.”

I don’t do anything with my hair, assuming Ruby will have a plan for it, and tug on the clothes. The leggings and bralette combination do work well together, and the jean jacket surprisingly pulls the look together.

If only I was as pulled together on the inside. I mean, really.

A secret society.

A dead DeSantis.

Theo relinquishing his possessive claim on me.

Sebastian’s flirting.

What else can go wrong?

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